창의성이 개인기업가지향성을 매개로 창업의도에 미치는 영향: 자존감의 조절된 매개효과를 중심으로

Creativity has been studied as one of the main characteristics of entrepreneurs in recent years. However, excellent creativity does not necessarily have a direct relationship with entrepreneurial intention and can indirectly influence entrepreneurial intention through mediators such as individual entrepreneurship orientation. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the mechanism of the psychological process of how a person with excellent creativity forms entrepreneurial intention; further, under what boundary conditions these relationships are strengthened. This study focuses on understanding the mechanism of these relationships by identifying the relationship between creativity and entrepreneurial intention and expanding prior studies by identifying mediators or moderators. The specific research objectives are as follows. First, this study investigates the relationship between creativity and entrepreneurial intention. Second, this study verifies the mediating effect of individual entrepreneurship orientation in the relationship between creativity and entrepreneurial intention. Third, we examine the moderating effect of self-esteem on the relationship between creativity and individual entrepreneurship orientation. Finally, we examine the moderated mediation effect of the self-esteem in these relationship, specifically how the effect of creativity on entrepreneurial intention via individual entrepreneurship orientation is varied by the level of self-esteem. Data collection was conducted through an online survey through Prolific. A global sample was used for the generalization of research results. A total of 200 responses were used for the analysis, and the collected data were analyzed using the SPSS version 22.0 program and Hayes’ PROCESS version 3.3. The results of the present study are as follows. First, creativity had a positive effect on entrepreneurial intention. Second, individual entrepreneurship orientation mediated the relationship between creativity and entrepreneurial intention. Third, it was found that the effect of creativity on individual entrepreneurship orientation was moderated by the level of self-esteem. Finally, it revealed that the influence of the interaction term between creativity and self-esteem on entrepreneurial intention was mediated by individual entrepreneurship orientation. Specifically, the positive effect of creativity on entrepreneurial intention via individual entrepreneurship orientation was strengthened in the case of high self-esteem. Based on the above results, academic and practical implications were discussed, and the limitations of this study and future research directions were presented.